Comparison of AIA and EPC as well as ante-AIA, post AIA and 'real' first-to-file prior art

In a new posting on the ksnh::law blog titled "10 aspects of the AIA that are (somehow) comparable to European provisions" we discuss the following new provisions of the America Invents Act and their link to European patent law: grace period prior public use intervening rights usurpation and derivation post grant review covered business method review third-party submissions supplemental examination prior use rights patent marking Further to that, one of the most interesting aspects of the AIA is the way the conversion from first-to-invent to first-to-file is implemented and the impact on the definition of relevant prior art. The two main changes to prior art can be found in 35 USC § 102 (a) and (b). While the former relates prior public use and intervening rights to the new notion of "effective filing date" (cf. 35 U.S.C. § 100(i)(1)), by that ending the Himer doctrine of 1966, the latter introduces an individual type of grace period combining elements of the ante-AIA first-to-invent and a classical first-to-file grace period. These issues have been discussed to some extent in sections 1 to 3 of this ksnh::law posting (English) and in this ksnh::jur posting (German) ...Zum vollständigen Artikel